Gabbard resigns as Trump’s top US intelligence official

Her departure from Congress saw her adopt conservative viewpoints, endorse Trump for ‌president in ⁠2024 and join the Republican Party.

She faced bipartisan criticism for comments seen as echoing Russia’s statements blaming NATO for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine and for meeting former Syrian President Bashar Assad during a 2017 trip to Damascus during a brutal civil war in which he received Russian and Iranian backing.

Once she took office, Democrats accused Gabbard of using her post to advance Trump’s drive, opens new tab to retaliate against his perceived enemies and back his efforts to prove debunked claims that fraud foiled his re-election in 2020.

Signs of tension with the White House appeared when Trump in June suggested she was wrong in assessing there was no evidence that Iran was ​building a nuclear weapon.

She has been absent from deliberations between ​Trump and his top national security advisers ⁠on major foreign policy issues, including the U.S. military operation that deposed former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the Iran war and Cuba.

“She was pushed out by the White House,” the source familiar with Gabbard’s departure told Reuters. “The White House has been unhappy with her for quite some time.”

The person said among other reasons for ​the displeasure with Gabbard were the activities of her taskforce known as the Director’s Initiatives Group. The group has worked to declassify documents related to the ​death of former President John ⁠F. Kennedy, investigate the security of election machines and probe the origins of COVID-19.